[gnome]

Hi - anyone have any list or suggestions of top Add-Ins for 2010 and what can be accomplished.

Right now I have LightsOut running which is a great value in placing the Server in Hibernate mode when not used, saves lots of money.

I am looking for other add-ins that are great and other potential of the WHS I have running.

This is a custom built, I have a laptop and desktop connected, will be connecting the PS3 soon, and then trying to see what is possible.

Thanks!

[jodyn]

Whiist is great if you want to have multiple sites / links running on your WHS

Disk management is a great addin for your drives

Perfect Disk or Diskkeeper - perfect disk works out much cheaper if you want it on your desktop machines as well

[gnome]

Thanks for those.

I heard about Advanced Admin Console and Admin Me (which requires a purchase), how are those two?

[jodyn]

AAC is brilliant if you dont RDP to your server, it gives you basically desktop control via the console

[gnome]

what about for Anti Virus? Is it recommended, if so which product?

Thanks

[GaPony]

If you don't download directly from the internet to your server, you "shouldn't" need an AV program for the server. Everything is checked as it comes through your client PCs.

Still, some people feel better with that extra protection. You'll need something like Avast! for WHS.

[dschoemaker]

Avast seems to work well for me.

Dave

[gnome]

What other must haves do you all recommend - so far I have found LightsOut as the best.

I uninstalled AutoExit since it could not wake up my Win 7 wireless laptop, its due to it being wireless without the WOL in the wireless adapter, i think.

[gnome]

Is there a add-on that I could access the xxx.homeserver.com site from outside the network and shutdown some client machines?

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

gnome, on 08 April 2010 - 04:28 AM, said:

Is there a add-on that I could access the xxx.homeserver.com site from outside the network and shutdown some client machines?

The AutoExit add-in will do that for you. If you combine it with the P80 Add-in you can do that from a web browser, PDA, Blackberry or iPhone.

[gnome]

I think the AutoExit addon is great for its purpose, the only issue i run into is how do I wake a wireless windows 7 laptop client.

With AutoExit - once my laptop (win 7) went to sleep wirelessly, I can't wake it up with AutoExit. I'm guessing by what Dave posted in another thread, its due to the wireless card not having wake on lan in its properties.

Not sure if there is any other way.

Thanks!

[jodyn]

if you install logmein on your server, the new version supports remotely waking up other pc's on the same lan, as long as one of them is on. have not tried with a wireless connection though.

[zuz242]

most important for me is "advanced admin console".
asn mentioned before, it can minimize the whs console prog -> so you are on a remote desktop without using a remote desktop client.

other nice addins for me are "lights out", "disk management", "whs backup database-backup" and for my setup specific "Intel hardware monitor" and "twonky media server".

possibly a whs defrag program could be handy, too.

[JesterEE]

gnome, on 08 April 2010 - 05:25 PM, said:

I think the AutoExit addon is great for its purpose, the only issue i run into is how do I wake a wireless windows 7 laptop client.

With AutoExit - once my laptop (win 7) went to sleep wirelessly, I can't wake it up with AutoExit. I'm guessing by what Dave posted in another thread, its due to the wireless card not having wake on lan in its properties.

Not sure if there is any other way.

Thanks!

That's right. I do have a wifi card that has a WOL property, and still I could not get this to work in Vista last year. The only option I found in my research would be to have a wired connection to a wireless access point. That should work, but I have never tried personally.

-JesterEE

[gnome]

Yes, that is the route i went - i set up a bridge with dd-wrt - and then connected it wired - it works with WOL then.

[JesterEE]

Here's the list I am currently running on my machine with a blurb of what I do with them:

Addin's
Add-in Central - Best way to find and install add-ins.
Asoft AutoExit 2009 - Best way to remote wake to connect to machines on the local network. I leave my server always on, but if I didn't it would solve turning it on from the LAN as well.
WHS PHP Installer - I'm more a Python/Perl guy than a PHP guy, but it's a simple installer for some extra web functionality for the server. I personally using it to run a Glype proxy.
Whiist - Add shortcuts to the main login site. I set up links to some of the service web interfaces for easy navigation.
P80 - Best way to monitor the server while away. Adds some great tie-in's to other add-in's/services.
Asoft AdminiMe - I used to run Advanced Admin Console and Disk Management. While those are both great add-in's (I would also recommend them as well) I decided to go with AdminiMe as it combines the functionality I used in one add-in. Also, AdminiMe is fairly new and looks to be supported by the author.
Update History Addin - Listing of the updates that have been installed on the server, and a quick button to look for new updates.
WHS Backup Database-Backup (WBDB) - The best way to keep track of and back-up your computer back-ups.
WebFoldrer4WHS - I use this to connect to certain folders using webdav while away and at work instead of using the web front-end every time. Makes using the server a lot more seamless when working remotely. Word of caution though, for larger files, I would not use webdav as I have had long copy times and dropped connections.

Services
TwonkyMedia - Comes with my HP MSS, but if I had a custom WHS build, I'd install the TwonkyMedia Server add-in.
Firefly - Comes with my HP MSS, but if I had a custom WHS build, I'd install the Fireplay add-in.
uTorrent with WebUI - I used to run the uTorrent add-in, but I found myself administering more from the web site then the console. So I scrapped the add-in but continue to run the program as a service.
UltraVNC Server - VNC server software for when you'd rather have a VNC than an RDC. Also has a Java based web site that you can open up on your router so you don't even need a viewer to connect to the server. Though, for security, you might not want to allow this from the internet. I have used this in the past to view OpenGL/DirectX objects while away as RDC blacks them out.
Ventrilo Server - I run a small ventrilo server for a few friends just because I can. The free version only allows ten connections.
SimplifyMedia - Before the author pulled the plug *shakes fist with rage*, I used to use this program as a service to stream my music/pictures over the internet for iTunes sharing.
UMC - I have a Popcorn Hour A200 and use this service to stream my multimedia to the device.

Programs
Drive Balancer - A little controversial (search the forum), but this tool is a simple program that balances the usage on all the drives in the pool. I have only used it once when I found that the Drive Extender program started favoring one drive more than the others. Running this overnight solved the issue, and from them on (1 yr+) I have not have any problems with spread drive usage.
uTorrent Toggle - Simple executable I made to toggle the torrent service on/off. I noticed I had some network lag when playing FPS games online with the torrents seeding. I would execute this from an add-in from the console to temporarily disable the service.

Add-in's I no longer use, but like
Advanced Admin Console
Disk Management
Marcel's uTorrent for WHS
Program Launcher
Tab Reorderer
Tab Scroller
Webguide4 - I had some issues with it, but it's still the best way to transcode and stream video from your server an embedded player in a website. I REALLY wish there was a better/updated/supported way to do this barring Orb/TVersity (those I don't like).

-JesterEE

[gnome]

Great post Jester.

Is there some add-in that is similar or better than the HP Media Collector that OEM WHS users can use.

thanks

[Scoob]

My current favourite addin hasn`t been mentioned yet - DirectoryWatcher.

I use it to monitor file activity (created/deleted files) on my WHS and get a feel for when a new backup is needed.

http://www.dbuschke....watcher#english

[gnome]

1, Anyone used Remote Alert, if so what do you think? Are there any alternatives that are better or is that the best bet?

2. I tried Remote Notification but it crashes my console each time, i guess it hangs for some reason, can't figure out why, I uninstalled it.

3. I installed Grid Junction as well, not much use, I might just uninstall it, just shows battery level.

[gnome]

Hey Jester - how is Glype working out for you? I decided to switch to PHProxy after I noticed one restricted site I was testing did not work as expected.

Where as with PHProxy I was able to access it. The only thing with PHProxy is I haven't found any code for like a admin page or log files.

JesterEE, on 11 April 2010 - 05:05 PM, said:

WHS PHP Installer - I'm more a Python/Perl guy than a PHP guy, but it's a simple installer for some extra web functionality for the server. I personally using it to run a Glype proxy.
-JesterEE